Prophecy Fulfilled
by Lady Cailynna Tenshi
Summary: Chapter Six Now Up! After destroying Dominion Headquarters, the fugitive members of Mutant X have a limited amount of time to save their lives and rescue their people. Post 'Assault' Please R&R. A/N - Muchos Apologies for the massive delay.
1. Chapter 1

Picks up right after Season 3 finale.

Disclaimer – I own nothing, except this plot and any original characters not shown in the show. Mutant X is owned by people and companies who left us hanging off a cliff. So, I am continuing this story and making absolutely no money from it. Do Not Sue, for I have nothing of value.

Chapter One – Retreat

The soon-to-be-fugitive members of Mutant X removed their com rings immediately after escaping from the rubble of Dominion HQ. The group didn't utter a sound as they followed Shalimar, who took out the two guards they did run into. Motioning them out through the fence and off the property, she slowed the group to a walk. With the burning Dominion building still visible in the distance, Jesse broke the silence. 'What the hell are we going to do now?' He demanded angrily.

'We have to find Adam. Jesse is the only one here not living under a death sentence.' Lexa replied.

'But how? The Helix is gone, Sanctuary is gone, the Dominion….' Shalimar's eyes flickered quickly over to Brennan, then to Jesse and Lexa.

'Look, we have to get moving, come on.' Brennan said. Grabbing Shalimar's arm, Brennan gently motioned her forward.

As they ran into a nearby forest, it was Brennan who continued. 'We need to make sure we're not being followed. We can change directions randomly, at least until we get an idea of where we are going to go. Shal, I trust you'll be keeping an ear out for anyone coming near us?'

'Of course. The ones who survived are all at the HQ, and they haven't exactly figured out what happened yet.' Shalimar replied, as the group came to a stop a few yards into the trees. 'Our first priority should be to get medical supplies, we're all pretty worse for wear here.'

'Once the Dominion gets re-organized, they will send retrieval teams after us.' Brennan said. 'We need to get far and fast, now.'

'No,' Shalimar stated, her tone matter of fact, and locked her eyes onto his. 'You were shot, the bullet is still in your shoulder and you're still bleeding, Bren, Don't deny it, I can smell it. Jesse is hurt too, and Lexa just spent the better part of the day in a cell under Dominion hospitality, and I've been blown up. We are getting medical supplies first. Period. Then we can steal a car, or hop a train, or we could even hijack a plane. Whatever you guys want. I really don't care, as long as we get a medical kit first.' Her voice never changed from that same flat tone, but her eyes flashed to gold.

'Let me see your shoulder, Brennan. Since when do you let yourself get shot?' Jesse said, walking over to him.

'Since the Dominion decided to make those suits that protect them from just about everything that we could hit them with.' Brennan replied, wincing as Jesse gave the wound a quick look-over.

Shalimar moved over to where Lexa was leaning against a tree, head down. 'How did you fare in there? I can only smell Jesse's blood on you, so I know you're cut-free.'

'They knocked me around a bit. I've got a headache and a ton of bruises, got dosed twice, but, I think I'll live. You?' She asked, throwing her head back and looking at the blond woman.

'Pretty much the same. A shower and some clean clothes and I'll be good.'

'So what happened to you guys in there, Shal? And whose bright idea was it exactly to get the Helix blown up?'

The girls began to catch the others up to speed on what had been happening after Jesse got kidnapped, with Jesse and Brennan each adding to the story. Soon Jesse finished his exam of Brennan's shoulder. 'Okay, we need to take that out before we can stitch you. It's not really bleeding that bad now, but it will when it comes out, and, it will hurt like hell. I don't think there is any permanent damage though. I'll need a good first aid kit, but we can get one just about anywhere. And you'll definitely want painkillers for this.'

'What about you, Jess?' Shalimar asked from her seat next to Lexa. 'There is a lot of blood on you too.'

'Ah, the Dominion agents were so kind as to try torture in an attempt to get the codes to Sanctuary. Thanks to this damned governer, I couldn't exactly stop them.' Jesse replied with a cocky grin. 'It didn't work though. I'm not too bad off; it'll keep.'

'Here, let me short those. Then they can't trace them. Since when do you let yourself get beaten up, Jesse?' Brennan asked, throwing Jesse's own question back at him as he zapped his neck.

'Hey watch it, I'm your surgeon, buddy.' Jesse said in mock-seriousness. 'Be nice, or I just might forget about an anesthetic for you.'

'Okay then guys, time for more walking.' Lexa said, standing up. Moving over to Brennan, she let him zap her governor and continued. 'There's a fairly active railway crossing about two miles north of the HQ. We'll hop a train, get off at the first stop with a drugstore in town. Once we change ourselves a bit and patch up, we'll…. Well, we'll figure that out later.' At the groups shocked expressions, she exclaimed, 'Hey, I never got around to thinking of an escape plan. Actually surviving my little betrayal was a stretch, and losing the Helix and Sanctuary too…well, I didn't think of a Plan F.'

'Plan F?' Brennan asked, repositioning his hand in his jacket so it wouldn't move and hurt his shoulder.

'Sure. The Plan for when we are Fucked Over. I'm winging it. You guys coming?'

The walk to the crossing was uneventful; Shalimar stayed in the treetops, going from tree to tree while keeping an eye out for any pursuers and blazing a trail for the others who followed below. Once they arrived at the edge of the forest by the crossing, Shalimar came down from the treetops and landed near Lexa. 'There hasn't been any sign of a tail.' She reported. 'I didn't see, hear or smell anyone other than us and some rabbits.'

'Good.' Brennan said, leaning against a tree. Sweat had started to form on his brow, and he was looking pale. 'I don't think I could handle a fight right now.'

'Hey, you okay?' Shalimar asked, walking over.

'I'll survive until we get this bullet out, don't worry.' He replied.

The group hopped the first passenger train that came by, and the next couple of hours were spent hiding in the baggage car. Thanks to Lexa's powers, the security guards simply never saw them. After transferring at a few different crossings, and stealing some clothes, bandages, and other necessary items (like cash), from a Wal-mart (courtesy of a ghost, since the night staff saw no one, and the cameras also saw nothing before a mysterious power surge knocked them out), the group decided that west would be a good direction to head in temporarily. Hopping the first west-bound train to pass by after their heist, the group set up shop, once again, in the baggage car. Shalimar and Lexa had re-arranged suitcases trying to create some privacy, and were now changing behind The Wall. Jesse was getting the supplies organized and ready from their shopping trip, while Brennan, who was sitting against the car's wall, had removed his jacket and shirt and was poking and prodding his gunshot wound.

'Are you hoping the bullet will just pop out if you keep doing that?' Shalimar asked as she threw her old shirt at his head.

He caught it in midair and tossed it back towards her as he replied – the shirt hit the Wall instead and landed harmlessly on the floor. 'No, it's itching like hell. I'm trying not to scratch it.'

Jesse had a shot of a numbing agent and some bandages ready and walked over to Brennan. 'This'll numb it at least until we can get to a motel and I can get the bullet out.' He said as he injected it into Brennan's shoulder. 'Shal, you want to bandage him up when you're done? I'm going to get started on our packs.'

'Sure. He can be my man slave – sit down and stay put, mister.' She added, when Brennan made to get up.

Laughing, Jesse sat down with their supplies. 'So, who wants to start off the discussions for Plan F?'

'I will,' Shalimar emerged from behind the wall, now attired in her new outfit. She had changed into a pair of black jeans, green tank top and a white hooded zip up sweater. Tossing her old clothes into an empty plastic bag, she sat down next to Brennan and began to bandage before continuing. 'We can't assume that the Dominion is going to take us destroying their HQ lying down. They will come after us guns blazing. Without access to Sanctuary or any of the safe houses, which we can't assume ARE safe, we're screwed.'

'Definitely,' Lexa agreed, coming out from behind the Wall. She'd chosen light blue jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt. Going over to where Jesse was, she sat down and began to help sorting their supplies into three piles – Medical, clothing and edibles. 'The Creator will be looking for us. And he's got Adam. We have to assume that he'll get the location and codes of the safehouses, either through Dominion records… or even from Adam himself.'

Shalimar made a frusturated sound as she taped up Brennan's chest. 'I wish that wasn't a possibility. But you guys saw how Adam hesitated, once he saw the Creator and that map. This Creator, essentially, IS Adam. Adam got us out, but the mutants hiding in the safehouses aren't safe.' To Brennan, she declared, 'You may dress now, slave.'

'Thank you so much, Mistress,' he replied sarcastically, getting up and grabbing the clean shirt Lexa held up out of the sorted pile. Being very careful as he put his bad arm in first, he continued. 'Okay, so, worst case scenario. Adam joins forces with the Creator, gives us up to the Creator to perfect their map of the genetic code, using Jesse as the template to fix our mutations. And if he can't get Jesse, he starts testing the cure on the ones in the safehouses.' Getting his other arm in the shirt, he went to button it up, and realized that it was impossible one-handed.

'I'll do it. Come here, Bren.' As Shalimar buttoned, she went on. 'We have to warn the mutants to leave the safe houses as soon as possible. They came to us to be safe, and I am NOT letting anyone, even Adam, test anything on them.' she said, her eyes flashing gold. The button she was working on snapped and went flying, hitting Lexa fairly hard in the back of the head.

'Easy there, girlie. That actually hurt. I think I may have a way for us to warn them without accessing any safe houses, but it'll involve some more legwork and planning. We can't worry about it now, though.' Lexa said, rubbing the back of her head and then going back to sorting. 'First priority is getting as far away as possible. And we need to change ourselves – we can't be us. New identities, everything.'

'I can probably hack into some government databases, get us new ID's with the right equipment. We can just live off the grid for awhile. Go somewhere warm.' Jesse said, picking up a black backpack. 'This one'll hold the med supplies. The green one will be for the ladies things, and the red one for the guys stuff. We'll divide the cash up so we each have some in case we have to separate.'

'Good idea. So, where do we want to go? West is good, but where should we head to afterwards?' Brennan asked, easing himself back down next to Shalimar.

'Let's discuss that after we get to a hotel. We all need showers.' Shalimar stated as she made a face.

'So, we stink, huh?' Brennan asked, trying to suppress a grin and snuggling closer.

'You have no idea.'

The group got off the train at the next stop, and decided to forgo the grand hotel in favour of a motel in the wrong end of town. While the boys waited with the bags, the girls went to the office to get them a room with a kitchen and bathroom. The hotel manager didn't seem surprised that they didn't want to pay with a credit card, and accepted Lexa's story about backpacking across the country. Once they'd paid for the day and upcoming night and he'd given them the keys, the group made their way to the room. Keeping the curtains closed, they began to clean up. While Lexa was showering, Jesse ordered a very large quantity of pizza, pop and water. It arrived just as everyone was showered and re-dressed. After they ate, Jesse washed his arms and hands, and began to get the things needed to remove Brennan's bullet. Brennan was already lying down topless on one of the beds, which they had covered in plastic sheeting to catch any blood. Jesse had Shalimar give Brennan another shot to numb his shoulder, and made sure to have a shot to knock Brennan out on standby, if the numbing wasn't good enough.

While Brennan watched and provided commentation on his surgery, Jesse removed the bullet. Once it was out, Jesse stitched the wound closed and padded it up. While he started to clean up the bloody cloths and other utensils, Brennan pulled on a dark blue shirt. Being very careful of his shoulder, he then sat down next to Shalimar on the left hand bed.

'So, do we change our looks now or tomorrow?' Jesse asked, reaching out and twirling a strand of Lexa's hair around his fingers.

'What are you doing?' Lexa snapped, swatting at his hand.

'Just wondering whether you'd look better as a blonde or redhead. And you should cut it, too.'

'We're dying our hair?' Shalimar asked, looking shocked.

'Maybe I'll start going scruffy, let it grow.' Brennan said. 'I don't think I want to dye my hair. The roots would be terrible.'

'Scruffy'll work, but they are looking for a blonde man and woman, and a black-haired man and woman. We need to not be those people.' Jesse replied. 'So, I'll go auburn. Shal, how would red highlights suit you? With a cut, it'd alter your appearance enough, and it's easily fixable if you hate it.'

'I can handle that. I'll do any cutting for you guys too. I'm not a bad hairdresser.'

'I think I'll go a dark red.' Lexa said. 'I've never been a redhead before. I grabbed some makeup too – not just for ladies uses either. Bren, you should use it to hide your tattoos.'

'Well, I guess that means we are doing it tonight. Let's save our new life stories for tomorrow though.' Jesse suggested, 'it'll be easier to decide after we've gotten some sleep anyway.'

As Shalimar cut, Lexa assisted the dying, and soon they barely recognized themselves. Jesse now had very short, auburn hair; Lexa's was deep red, and Shalimar had cut it into a pageboy style. Shalimar cut hers off as well, opting for a shoulder-length, face-framing style. With her new red highlights, she was a completely different woman. Brennan was talked into putting some multi-coloured highlights in his, and he looked different enough to avoid detection. He would change the colour again once it grew out a bit. It was also decided he would wear long sleeves to avoid his tattoos being seen instead of using makeup.

Once the group cleaned up from the dying, Jesse and Lexa took over the right hand bed, Jesse lying against the headboard with his legs crossed in front of him, Lexa perched on the edge, arms wrapped around one leg. Brennan was lying down on the other bed after taking a pill for the pain in his shoulder, and Shalimar was up putting away the remains of dinner in the room's mini-fridge.

'Well, we've been up for over 24 hours. Today we know what we look like, tomorrow who we'll be is decided. Shove over, Bren.' Shalimar said as she stood up from the fridge. 'I am exhausted, and going to sleep.'

'What, the wounded guy can't sleep alone?' Brennan asked, but moved to accommodate Shalimar.

Shalimar snorted as she got into the bed beside him. 'Please. Like you're the only one injured. Two king-size beds means two to a bed.' Pausing as she got comfortable, she let out a yawn, and added to Jesse and Lexa, 'And since you two have already gotten comfortable, you're sharing too. We need all the rest we can get. Someone get the lights before you fall asleep.' Curling up into Brennan's side, she was asleep in seconds.

'Well, I'm not going to argue with the feral. Good night, guys.' Brennan closed his eyes and was soon asleep as well.

'Well, I'm going to go make sure no one can get in here, but then I'm going to go to sleep too. You want the right or left side?' Lexa asked, getting up. She turned around and saw Jesse, who was now lying on his side on the left side of the bed sound asleep. It looked like he hadn't heard anything that Brennan had said. 'Guess that answers that question,' she sighed. After insuring the door was braced, locked, the windows fully covered, and that the do not disturb sign was on the door, she shut off the lights and made her way back to the bed. Thankfully, as she lay down next to Jesse, sleep claimed her well before she could dwell on the events of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer – See Chapter One. Please R&R.

Chapter Two – Plan F

Outside their room, the sun rose, as was its habit, and began its westerly procession across the sky.

Inside their room, Shalimar was the first one to wake. Her mind slowly came back to awareness, and first took note of how warm she was, registered the sounds of the birds and cars, and realized she wasn't alone in her bed. Her nose told her a second later who the other occupant was, and as a lot of other scents washed over her, that it wasn't her bed at all. Shalimar groaned as she realized the events from the day before had not been a nightmare, and buried herself into a tiny ball far under the covers, not wanting to get out of that bed.

Her movements woke Brennan, who blinked at the brightness of the room. The curtains had obviously not been designed to actually BLOCK the light, just filter some of it out. He glanced over at the other bed and saw Jesse's sleeping face. Lexa was spooned in front of him. Taking note of Jesse's arm wrapped around her waist with hers on top of it, he smirked. Turning his attention to the now-redhead in a ball next to him, Brennan sat up a bit and tried to touch her with his right hand, forgetting his shoulder. He hissed as pain lanced through it, and fell back against his pillow. As soon as Shalimar heard him hiss, her head shot out from under the covers, 'Are you okay?' she whispered.

Hearing her voice, Brennan looked down into her face. 'You're awake, huh? Yeah, I just forgot about my shoulder. It was kind enough to remind me though.' He put the cover back down over her head and tried to sit up again. When he was leaning against the headboard, he put his head back against the wall and quietly, 'Did yesterday really happen?'

'Unfortunately, yes. Otherwise we had one hell of a party and can't remember any of it.' Throwing the covers off her, Shalimar got out of the bed and went over to the window. Peering out the side of the curtains, she looked for anyone surveying their room. Once she was satisfied there was no one in sight, she turned around and went back to the bed.

Seeing Lexa and Jesse were still asleep in the same position that Brennan had seen them in, she began to laugh softly. 'I guess they finally figured some stuff out too, huh?' She asked softly.

'Yeah, looks like.' Brennan agreed. 'Do we want to wake them up now?'

'We better get it over with. We need to figure out Plan F still.' Going over to the sleeping pair, she gently touched Lexa's arm. Lexa's eyes shot open and immediately she sat up; Jesse followed suit once he felt Lexa move. 'Hey. It's just your wake up call. No one's attacking us, but we should get out of here soon. I think it's time we figure out what our next move will be.'

Lexa rubbed her hands over her face and nodded. Shalimar walked over to the fridge, took out some water and pizza and handed it out before reclaiming her seat next to Brennan. 'So, who would like to start, and where? Our new life stories, where we're headed, or how we are going to evacuate the safehouses?' Brennan asked as he bit into the cold pizza.

'Well, I can get a message to the safehouses when we find a place to forge some new ID's.' Jesse said around a mouthful of pizza. 'But we still need to get somewhere for that, and should probably do it before we go to our new home. Once we figure out where that'll be of course. I guess who we'll be is a better place to start.'

'Well Jess, I think you should be my brother.' Shalimar said. 'We've known each other long enough to pull it off easily.'

'But what if I don't WANT you as a sister?' Jesse asked, laughing. He phased out as Shalimar threw a pillow at his head; the pillow passed through his phased body and smacked the wall before falling on the floor. 'All right, SIS, fine. What's your name?'

'Phedre.' Shalimar replied instantly.

'Hmm, Phedre. Sounds celtic. This wouldn't have anything to do with those fantasy books you were reading, would they?' Brennan asked.

'Hey, I like it.' Shalimar replied. 'In those books that woman did things that made my flesh crawl to succeed in her missions. I've done the same. So, brother dear, who will you be?'

'Hmm.' Jesse took another bite of his pizza and chewed, thinking. 'I guess my name will be Patrick. Might as well say our parents were Irish. We're both redheads now, so it'll work. We can think of a last name once we can make out ID's.'

'I think I'll be Liam.' Brennan said.

'Great.' Lexa said. 'Well, I guess I'll take Stella as an alias. Now that we know who we'll be, time for the hard part. What exactly are we going to do now?'

'Well, we can always join the circus.' Shalimar said, a grin lighting up her face.

Brennan laughed at that. 'Shal, the idea is to avoid attracting any kind of attention to ourselves, not be in a spotlight. Live off the grid. Get paid under the table, that sort of thing.'

'I've got some money squirreled away under some rocks the Dominion doesn't know about,' Lexa said. 'Combined with our heist, we'll have enough money to start over somewhere else. I just need to get to Las Vegas to get it.'

'All right then, so how's this for a plan.' Jesse replied. 'We break in at the Social Security office tonight, print up some fake ID's for our new names, set up some back up files in case we need to change identities later on, then go buy a car and hit up Vegas. Sound good?'

'I'm just waiting to hear about how we are going to warn the mutants in the safehouses to scatter.' Shalimar said. 'What exactly was your plan, Lex?'

'Simple. That we get Proxy Blue to tell the safehouses.' Lexa replied candidly, getting out of the bed and grabbing the backpacks.

'Uh, Lexa, I don't know if you know this, but she spent a good part of my first year with Mutant X trying to expose us. We stopped contacting her because we were afraid she could somehow realize who we were; we only let the safehouses watch because their signals were re-routed even more so than Sanctuary's, and the info she had was accurate a lot. You want us to use her to warn the underground? Is she even still running?' Brennan asked.

'She's still running.' Lexa said. 'And still curious about everything that's happened in genetics research all over the world.'

'Yeah? And how do you know that?' Brennan asked

'Is this apart of that rolodex I keep wanting to look at?' Jesse asked.

Shooting Jesse a smug look, Lexa smirked as she replied, 'You mean the one you want to steal? Not really. Proxy blue is what I've been controlling for years without Adam or the Dominion knowing it was me behind it.'

'YOU'RE Proxy blue? Since when? And why not tell us?' Brennan said.

'I'm not her, I control her. Proxy is a self-aware, semi-sentient computer program. Everything about her is digital. A friend of mine created her – I took over her operations when she died. All I did was use her to supply, gather and spread information. Mostly stuff the Dominion, GSA, Adam, or anyone else didn't want public knowledge, then I, or Mutant X, would be sent to "stop" the leak, and find out anything we could about what happened.'

'Well, where can we go to access her?' Shalimar asked.

'Proxy's program can be accessed from anywhere. I just need a secure computer, or rather, any computer that's private. Breaking in somewhere would probably be best; that way, even if it is traced, which is very unlikely, it'll be a dead end. We'll do that before we leave this city, and after we get our fake id's.'

'Okay, we have a plan.' Brennan said, pushing himself up carefully in bed, and swinging his legs over the side to sit on the edge. 'Shall we go put it into motion and get the hell out of here?'

It was about ten o'clock at night before the group finally left the hotel. After wiping down every surface in the entire room and giving it the cleaning of it's life; the group then proceeded to strip the beds and closets of all available linens, towels and pillows and stuffed them into the backpacks remaining space. After Shalimar took a final look around the room with her feral eyesight, and couldn't see any more blood or hair, the group exited the hotel. Jesse took the garbage bag full of bloody sheets and cleaning supplies down to the boiler room and threw it into the furnace to be destroyed, then met the others behind the hotel, grabbed his backpack from Shalimar, and followed them into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer – See Chapter One. Please R&R.

Chapter Three – Preparing For The Future

'It should be so much more difficult to gain access to government buildings.' Shalimar whispered as the group made their way down the hall to where they would print off their ID's. 'I mean, between Lexa's invisibility, my feral senses, Jesse's phasing and Brennan's electricity, and the fact that they have detailed maps on every floor, this is just plain pathetic.'

They were having a very easy time gaining access. Instead of wiping out the entire building's power supply, the group was simply staying in contact with Lexa, who was using her powers to render them invisible to the cameras. Jesse's ability to walk through walls was also proving very useful, and Shalimar kept an ear out for anyone approaching.

'The less we have to do to get new ID's, the less better.' Lexa hissed back. 'Okay, here's the room. Jess?'

The auburn haired man reached out and phased out the door. As one, the group moved in. After taking a look around and seeing that there were no cameras in it, in a flash of light Lexa allowed her powers to fade. She went over to one computer while Jesse went to another, and the two of them began creating back files for their new lives while Shalimar and Brennan kept watch.

'Okay. I've set up new family records for us;' Lexa said after an hour or so. 'Liam Adair's mother died when he was 17. Given his age, and the fact that he has no other family, he was allowed to be his own guardian. Grew up in the lovely town of Tippineen, Oklahoma until her death, then he moved around, finally settling in LA, where after two months in the city, at the age of 28, he met 26 year old Phedre and 27 year old Patrick Sullivan at a rock concert. Phedre and Patrick are the children of a smalltown shopowner Michael Sullivan and his wife Katie, near Detroit, Michigan; they sold the family store and home and moved to LA following their parents' tragic deaths in a freak skiing accident in Aspen when martial arts sensei Phedre was 23, and medical student Patrick, 24. Their parents left them enough to be comfortable and pursue their dreams, but not enough that they could stop working. Stella Ashkenon is an orphan who grew up in LA; she was dropped off at a shelter as an infant with her name on a piece of paper, passed around from foster home to foster home until her 18th birthday, then she was on her own. She met Patrick at the Harbourfront July 4th of last year at a party, and after becoming friends, we all decided to take a road trip backpacking around the US this summer, which is what we are doing now. I've tried to keep the generalities of our lives together the same, that way if we slip up, we can cover easily.'

'All right then guys, I've got the ID's printing now; birth certificates, drivers licenses, everything we'll need will be ready in about five minutes. I was just waiting on the names and backgrounds, and now that the addresses are in – bingo!' Jesse continued happily as the machine next to him began to print off their new information. Once it was done, the group pocketed their new papers, erased their access logs from the computer. Shalimar checked the corridors, then they grabbed a hold of Lexa and disappeared in a flash of light.

Going to the 24-hour UCLA school library next, Shalimar and Lexa had each put on a baseball cap that said Hollywood on the front, pulled up the hoods of their sweaters over their hair and snuck in while the boys waited on the steps out front. Blending in with the late night students didn't prove difficult, and Lexa was soon seated at one of the internet ready computers in the schools lab with Shalimar again keeping a lookout. Pulling a pair of leather gloves out of her pocket, she pulled them on before touching the computer, and began accessing Proxy blue's website. After punching in some access codes, Proxy's face and blue hair filled the screen. Two seconds later, and 'Hello, Lexa' came over the computers speakers, filling the lab.

'Hello, Proxy,' Lexa replied as her gloved fingers flew over the keyboard. After telling Proxy to distribute the story that Dr. Adam Kane of Genomex had faked his own death, then been kidnapped by government agents after it was discovered, she told the system that all of his 'hidden children' needed to destroy and flee the 'safety of his Sanctuaries immediately', or face captivity. There was also a note that Adam's Four were safe and looking for him, and the hidden ones were not to emerge from hiding until approached by one of those guardians, and to not trust any messages from The Creator or Adam Kane. Signing the message "Mutant X", Lexa completed the message, and set it to go on in all safehouses in an hour, and to repeat every hour for 24 hours. She then set Proxy blue to self-destruct at the 24 hour mark, and erase all hard-drives that her program had been accessed from using a tracing viral program.

Shalimar had moved from the door and was watching Lexa type. 'All clear?' She asked as Lexa shut the computer down.

'Yep.' Lexa replied. 'I got the message in, gave it a 24 hour loop, and then told Proxy to destroy herself and any computer she's linked up to once the time's up. This time tomorrow this school is going to have a tragic computer crash. I hope the students keep backups of their work. Shall we go save the girls of this campus from our men?' she asked as they exited the lab.

'What do you wanna bet that they already have at least 2 phone numbers apiece, and there will be some girls hitting on them when we get there.' Shalimar replied, laughing. Sure enough, upon their exit of the library they found both Brennan and Jesse talking to a small group of young women. As they approached, they heard a little woman with long blonde hair ask, 'So, Patrick, do you and Liam have any plans for tonight?'

'Hey baby!' Lexa cried out then, running over to Jesse and flying into his arms. 'I am soo sorry you guys had to wait for us, but Phedre and I needed to drop something off at the library.' She gushed, and gave him a quick kiss before he could reply.

Completely ignoring the blonde girl and her friends, Shalimar brushed past Lexa and Jesse towards Brennan, who immediately put his left arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. 'Hey beautiful,' Brennan said, 'this is Catherine, and her friends Sara and Dessa. This is my girlfriend Phedre; she's Pat's sister, and that is his girlfriend Stella.'

'How do you do.' Lexa replied, glancing at the other girls. Turning back to Jesse, she said, 'So, are we ready to go then, Pat? Our train leaves in an hour, and we have to get to the station still.'

'Now that you're here, we're more than ready. It was a pleasure meeting you ladies,' Jesse said to the girls, 'but we've got a train to catch.' Pausing briefly for Lexa and Shalimar picked up their backpacks, they turned and left the group of women standing in the quad, their eyes shooting daggers at their backs.

'So, which one of you won the phone number game?' Shalimar asked as they walked away from the library.

'I did,' they both replied simultaneously.

'How many did you get?'

'Actually, those girls were the only ones to talk to us. We kept trying, but no one was biting tonight,' Brennan replied.

'Poor baby,' Lexa replied, grinning. 'Proxy's got the message, and in 24 hours all computers that have accessed her program are going to be destroyed thanks to a virus. Now all we need to do is stay alive, and "Patrick",' she said with another smile, 'needs to start working on how the rest of us are going to get past our Expiration Dates. So, what do you say? Ready to hit Sin City and get this freak show started?'


	4. Chapter 4

A/N - Greetings Readers! Muchos apologies for the delays updating – This story is still a WIP, so while I know where I want it to go, the path to get there keeps sending me on detours. Also, I do have an actual day job that keeps me occupied, so I can only write in my off-time. But I will not give up on this story, so please forgive my slowness. Special Thanks to my reviewers, syd26, LauraV, and Anamalia-fear – you are the brave souls who de-lurked to tell me what you think. Thank You!

Chapter Four- City of Sins

Sitting packed like sardines in a bus full of elderly women and their cloying flower perfume, teenagers making out in the back of the bus, and the toddlers screaming for the entire trip was NOT how Shalimar had wanted to spend today. And judging from the glares Lexa, Brennan and Jesse were shooting the teens and toddlers, it was not the way they had envisioned their flight from LA either. After purchasing their bus tickets, they had simply spent the night looking at the ocean. Grabbing the largest coffees possible with their breakfasts to keep them alert, the team had boarded to bus to Las Vegas, thinking themselves prepared for ten hours in a packed bus full of casino winner hopefuls.

How wrong they were.

The two teenagers were bad enough. Constantly going in and out of the buses only toilet stall, high on God-knows-what, they were amusing themselves by kicking the backs of the seats and arguing loudly about everything from Eminem's recent re-marriage and re-divorce to the correct usage of the word "Fuck". In short, they were driving every other person on the bus insane. Within the first hour, Brennan, who was next to Shalimar, was itching to shock them, Lexa (in front of them) wanted to set fire to the girls hair, and Jesse (next to Lexa, of course) wanted to phase the back of the bus so they'd simply fall out the back end. Shalimar was ready to do anything that would stop the migraine that was forming. Thanks to the teen's idiotic antics, the incessant howling of the banshee up front and the putrid stench of the old lady perfume, her head felt like she had rods being rammed across it from temple to temple. The sounds and smells annoyed normal people. For a feral's sensitive senses, this was close to torture. Especially since she'd been listening to the shit for over 5 hours.

As the girl suddenly let out a loud shriek that set the child into a fresh wave of wailing, she'd had enough.

Leaping out of her seat, she was in front of the girl before she finished her scream. Letting her eyes glow, she got right in the girls face. 'Listen up you stupid little shit,' she hissed, eyes still glowing. 'I don't care how high you are, how much you love your boyfriends dick and Eminem. To be honest, no else here does either. You will sit here, be quiet, and stop disturbing the other passengers. Or,' she added, grabbing their bag which her nose told her the drugs were located, and dangling it in their faces, 'The second thing I will do when we hit Barstow is to get the cops to arrest you for narcotics smuggling and possesion.'

'The second thing?' The boy asked, looking more than sufficiently freaked out by Shalimar by the second. 'What is the first thing?'

At that, Shalimar gave them a very dangerous smile, 'The first thing I will do is ensure the only way you two can perpetuate humanity is through tubes. Do I make myself clear,' and as she said "clear", she grabbed the male parts in question, 'Or do I need to persuade you?' she asked, eyes normal and her voice now sweet as honey.

Both of the teens' eyes were now the size of pie plates, and it had nothing to do with the numerous drugs floating through their systems. After receiving a stammered out agreement from both, Shalimar released her hold, threw the bag back in their laps and returned to her seat.

'Way to avoid attracting any attention to yourself, Phedre.' Jesse whispered.

'Unless you want to have to get a new face too, zip it, PAT,' Shalimar hissed to him. 'Those little fucks were a huge factor in this migraine that I now have. Now, they are quiet. Maybe the lack of their shrieking will help that baby get quiet. Either way, I now have a better chance of getting rid of the marching band in my skull.'

'Easy, Fay,' Brennan said, chuckling. Glancing back quickly at the now terrified teens, he grinned. 'They're so scared, I don't think they'll move for the rest of the trip. Or breathe, for that matter.'

Sure enough, when the bus pulled into the Barstow rest stop, the teens were still sitting exactly where and how Shalimar had left them. The child had stopped screaming about ten minutes after The Talk, and while Shal could not do anything about the floral stench, her headache had diminished significantly. Looking at the teens as she followed the others exiting the bus, she just shook her head, put on her sunglasses and walked out into the California sunshine.

'Remind me the next time I suggest a bus as a suitable mode of transportation about today,' Lexa groaned, as they all concentrated on stretching the kinks out. 'That's it. Car. After we hit Vegas, we get a car.'

'Agreed,' Jesse said as he hunched over to touch his toes. 'At least if we have a car we can pick our own washroom spots. And decide when we get to stop for a stretch.'

'Not to mention the food aspect.' Brennan added. 'I don't know about you, but I can't eat that garbage that passes as food for much longer. What I wouldn't give for some decent Thai or Chinese right now….'

'Sorry, looks like you get a stellar choice between McDonald's, Starbucks and Wendy's.' Shalimar replied blithely. As the group made their way towards the food complex, they continued to chat lightly about absolutely nothing, and made sure they looked as anonymous as possible. Suddenly, Shalimar stopped dead in her tracks, dug her nails into Brennan's arm.

'Ow!' he yelped, causing Lexa and Jesse to stop as well. 'What the hell?' Brennan asked, yanking his arm away and rubbing the five crescent shaped wounds now decorating his left forearm.

'Bishop,' Shalimar whispered, casting her golden eyes through the crowded reststop, nose searching for the source of the scent. 'Bishop is here.'


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five – Fast, Almost Friendly Service

A/N – Here's the next chapter! Thanks to my reviewers – you help keep the juices flowing. I must warn you that while I know exactly where this story is going to go, the path it will be taking is still a mystery. It may take some time to get it right, but never fear. I shall prevail!

Please R&R!

'Bishop? As in THE Bishop? Ashlocke's pre-cog?' Lexa snapped out, eyes scanning the rest stop now as well. 'Where?'

'I don't know where,' Shalimar replied, 'There's too many scents. But he knows we're here.'

'How do you know that?' Jesse replied as the group began to make their way forward again.

'Patrick,' Shalimar said dryly, narrowing her eyes at him as they rounded the corner towards the front of the Food Palace, 'he's a psyonic with the ability to see the future, the most powerful one, remember? He probably knew we'd be here before we did.'

'Wonderful,' Brennan replied as they entered the Palace and began to walk to the Wendy's. 'This guy better not try anything again. The last time you went to see him-'

'I locked her in my room to help facilitate my escape.' The man working the counter, whose nametag said 'Joe', looked up at the group and smiled. 'I see that your friends were able to get you out… Phedre, isn't it? It's so nice to see all of you again. Patrick. Liam. Stella…oh, yes, we've never actually met. How can I help you today?'

'Well, we were going to get takeout, but maybe we should stay in.' Lexa said, leaning against the countertop. 'Joe? You're going on lunch now too, right?' she asked. 'Otherwise, Phedre's going to be so upset. I may not have met you before today, but I think the others would like a word...'

'Anything for you, precious.' He replied with a smile. 'I'll just ring in your orders, then let Bianca take over for me. What'll it be?'

After handing them their orders, Bishop handed over the till to a bored looking teen with bleached hair and a ring through her nose. Coming out the side door, he walked over to where they were eating their burgers in a booth and sat down at the end, taking a handful of fries from Jesse's box. 'It's interesting to see all of you here… Honestly, I was only expecting to see you and your boyfriend, my dear,' Bishop stated to Shalimar.

'Somehow, I can't bring myself to believe that, Bishop.' Shalimar said sarcastically as she watched him, munching away. 'But you gave me a prophecy that I changed. I need to know what else you saw about this War with the Dominion so I can change that too.'

Bishop laughed at that. 'You don't get it, do you? I told you before. All I see are probabilities. There are too many players on both sides to get any kind of accurate reading of what is to come. I have no idea who will win in the end. But I do know that if I stay lost, I'll be there to see the end. And, truly told, you are very lucky. Seeing the four of you means that you have a very good chance now of stopping this. And _Phedre..._' he said, 'the prophecy I gave you was accurate. Every word of it was to insure that _Liam_ here survive. He was necessary to help you get to everybody else you need. It was the only way our kind will survive and prosper.'

'Why are you being so helpful, _Joe_?' Brennan asked, being very careful to keep his injured shoulder still as he leaned forward. 'You almost make it sound like you care about what happens to the rest of the world.'

'Of course I care!' He replied, sounding offended. 'Well, at least about us and our kind. If what I have foreseen occurs, all sentient beings, human and mutant alike will suffer and die. That means I die too. And even if I do manage to outlive everyone, quite frankly, being the last person on earth is rather boring. I've been there. Stayed there a lot, actually. Rather bleak period, but the silence was absolute. No more screaming…'

'Then what have you seen about this coming war, Bishop? How do we get Adam back and destroy the Dominion?' Shalimar asked, fingering the plastic knife that came with her potato. He eyed it, then looked up at her and grinned.

'I see many things about the war. To conquer death, you must help another live again. You four are the only ones who will be able to do this. If you do, you will have what is necessary to save us all. And it's the only way you'll get what you need to rescue Adam, should that still be his desire by the time you find him, of course.'

'So Adam will turn on us for The Creator's information on genetics then.' Lexa said quietly, her eyes locked on Bishop's face.

'That has yet to be set in stone. He thinks to outthink the genius he was made from. He has a fair chance of succeeding too. But I'd hurry up and figure out your next step soon.' Bishop replied, taking a handful of Lexa's fries. 'Stella's the only one of you still in danger from your expiration dates anyway, so that can be your incentive.'

'_What_?' They all cried out. Lexa's face paled slightly; Joe pretended to laugh at his own non-existent joke, and the odd looks from everybody else in the store faded quickly.

'So Adam fixed us, but left Lexa to die when he was there?' Jesse said quietly. 'Is that what you're saying?'

'No, not at all. Adam did nothing to fix any of you. Or at least, what he tried failed to work. No, the person you are looking for is the person who fixed you.'

'What are you talking about?' Brennan snapped. 'Just tell us who we're supposed to find! Who the hell could've fixed us without our remembering anything about it?'

'Touchy today, aren't you, my boy? Whatever happened to that little psyonic again… what was her name… ah yes, _EMMA_. She died when Adam did, right? Oh, wait, Adam's not dead…'

'Yes, Emma…' Shalimar started, then stopped. The colour drained out of her face, eyes wide in shock. 'Oh sweet lady… Emma. It's Emma. She fixed us. And she did the same thing that….' At Bishops' nod she shot up from the table and was out the door in less than three seconds.

'Fuck.' Brennan said after a second had passed. 'Emma… You stay right there, Joe. I'll be back.' He got up and went out after Shalimar.

'You're saying Emma didn't die? And she made sure we saw her body…' Jesse looked hurt by the thought. 'I appreciate her making sure I'm not going to fade into nothingness or anything, but… I think 'fuck' pretty much sums this up. Damn…Emma.' 

'I don't really know anything about her motives behind her decision. I can tell you that my visions of her are fragmented, disjointed; I've seen her do different things in the same scenarios, or not be there once, but there in another. I cannot predict her behaviour, or tell you what you'll need to do to help her. I won't go near her to do so; I've seen her killing me in several futures, and the best way to avoid that is to not give her the opportunity or motive. But you... she loves you, and does need you; in the very least, you'll be able to remind her that she's not the only person being affected negatively by the changes to come. And maybe you can remind her that she can actually do something about that; or at least, used to want to. Now, I know Liam wants me to stay, but my break is over, and I need to go back to work.' Bishop said, standing up suddenly. 'So sorry… you might want to move out from here quickly. Your bus is leaving in ten minutes. And be careful near any windows, hmm?' He began to move quickly towards the counter.

'What the hell? Windows?' Lexa muttered, coming out of her trance and whipping her head around to look at Bishop's retreating form.

'Let him go. We need to get that bus.' Jesse gave her a nudge out of the booth. Getting out himself, he went to the other side and picked up their friends belongings. Tossing Lexa a sweater and bag, he added 'I'll fill you in on anything you need to ask once we stop traveling. Let's get the others.'

Outside 

Shalimar didn't exactly have a direction in her head after she got out to the open air; she simply turned and began walking away from the Food Palace, tears streaming down her face, get away from the people that were crushing her…

Emma was alive. She had done what Adam did, lying to all of them, making them think-, no, feel and _SEE_ that she was dead and then she'd gone and left, she'd never hinted at leaving, never intending on coming back... Had Adam known she was faking her death too? Was everything he said a damned lie? An amazing coincidence, their dual fakes. Why was - suddenly Brennan's arms were wrapping around her shoulders from behind.

'Hey, it's okay…' he whispered in her ear. Still crying, she turned around and buried her face into his chest. 'No, it isn't!' Shalimar cried out. 'She just up and left us, Bren. She made us think that someone else was her, that she was dead. And she knew, better than anyone, the kind of pain that would cause us…' the rest of her words were lost in the sobs she was burying in Brennan's chest.

'Listen to me,' Brennan said, rubbing his arms up and down her back gently. 'We will figure out some way to find her and ask why she chose to leave like that. But we can't do it here. There's – _hey! Why isn't Bishop with you?' _he yelled at Lexa and Jesse, emerging alone from the Food Palace.

'Said he had to go back to work.' Jesse called out. 'Besides, we need to go. Stella and I have what we need. Hurry up!'


	6. Chapter 6

A/N – OK, I had a minor case of writer's block with this one. Also, sad fact of the matter is, when you try to move out into a trendy downtown apartment with two other people, life gets hectic. Essentially, your time is not quite so free anymore. Add a full time job with a three hour commute daily, and you get the picture.

However, that is not really an excuse for the almost three years of absence, and for that, I apologize. I hope this makes up for it.

Chapter Six – Light in Dark Places

The last half of the bus trip to Vegas was much quieter, and sadly, less eventful than before. The teens that Shalimar had frightened half to death had not moved from their fright-induced cowering the entire break at the road stop. Silently, they now began to watch as a visibly-upset Shalimar was led to her seat by Brennan, followed by Lexa and Jesse carting their things. They also watched as a still-crying Shalimar eventually fell asleep, her head resting on Brennan's chest, and soon Lexa and Brennan followed her.

Jesse remained awake; also watching, but his target was the teens; the fact that they were so quiet now was a little unnerving. In fact, so was the staring; the whole point of their new looks was to avoid detection and notice, not to attract it. Making a quick decision, he woke up Lexa gently. When her head shot up, he grabbed her hand and motioned towards the back of the bus.

'There is no way you and I are having sex in that bathroom.' Lexa hissed to him, misinterpreting Jesse's motions.

'What?' Jesse began to chuckle at that idea. 'Ew. No, a dumpster would be better than that bathroom; definitely roomier, maybe even cleaner. I was going to suggest getting off this bus earlier than planned – those two kids in the back haven't taken their eyes off us since we got back on, and it's kind of creeping me out.'

'We can't get off the bus, our stop in Barstow was the only one between here and Vegas. That's why we chose it, remember? Fewer chances to be seen?' Lexa kept her voice very low.

'Well, we have to do something to make them stop quaking in terror back there; we can't afford a scene. I'm gonna go talk to them.' As he moved to get up, she grabbed his arm.

'What are you going to say?'

'I don't know, I'll think of something.' Shaking off Lexa's arm, Jesse got up and made his way to the teens.

'Hey guys, I'm sorry about Phedre earlier; my sister has a short temper!' Jesse laughed slightly, sitting down in the seat in front of them. 'I'm Patrick, and you are?'

The girl narrowed her eyes slightly before stating quietly, 'Sarra. And this is Michael, my boyfriend.'

'It's nice to meet you. Look, I'm really sorry about Phedre. We've had it a bit rough these past few months; we lost a good friend of ours a year ago, and she's still dealing with it. Emma was usually the one who would keep her from freaking out on people like that.'

Sarra narrowed her eyes even further at his explanation. 'It's not the freak out that has us worried. Why did her eye's change colour like that?' She demanded, her own eyes boring straight into his.

Shocked, Jesse's mind began to race._ SHIT! _He thought. _How the hell do I explain that? Dammit! _Forcing a smile, he replied, 'What, you've never seen someone's eyes change colour? One minute, you swear that they're brown, and the next, they look black?'

'Sure I have.' Sarra replied evenly, her eyes never leaving his, 'but when they change from brown to golden cat's eyes, it makes one wonder about one's nature.'

_Fuck, we're screwed! _'Haven't you ever heard of contact lenses?' Jesse countered quickly.

Sarra threw back her head and laughed loudly. 'Oh, good one!' She crowed. Quieting down, she leaned forward, and after glancing in front of her to see if any of the other passengers were paying attention, she motioned him in close. 'And if I didn't know a feral when one is right in front of me, or I was a complete idiot regarding genetics, I might actually buy that. But I can understand your wanting to keep that quiet,' she added quickly, 'since Michael and I are in that same boat.'

'And what boat is that?' Jesse asked quietly.

Holding her right hand out in front of her, and using Jesse as a shield from the other passengers, a small fireball appeared in her palm, and was just as quickly extinguished with a quick flip of her wrist.

'As you can see, we have our own reasons for not wanting to be exposed.' Michael stated softly.

'Shit.' Jesse muttered. 'Where are you two headed?'

'We don't know; we got a message in LA that we were no longer safe where we were, and to leave immediately. We did, and chose the best way we knew to blend in.' Sarra replied.

'By acting like a pair of obnoxious teenagers?' Jesse asked with a quick grin.

'Well, duh,' Michael replied, rolling his eyes. 'We're a pair of teens who favour a less than conservative style of dress, body piercings, and tattoos. Having us act like a polite pair of upper-class twats doesn't exactly fit the image. Whereas, by acting the way we look, looks less supicious.'

'Alright, I get it. And you two are in luck.' Jesse replied, going to get up and go back to his seat.

'Why's that?' Sarra asked, leaning back into her seat.

'You've just been approached by one of the Four, Sarra. Your best bet is to stick with us.'

'Um, before we do that, how do I know you're one of them? Or should I say, NOT one of _them?_' Sarra replied, her tone questioning.

'Aardvark.' Came Jesse's reply as he made his way down the aisle.

'Buffalo.' Sarra replied softly, relaxing.

And the bus arrived in Las Vegas.


	7. Author's Note will replace with Ch7

Author's Note

Hey guys, so sorry for the lack of updates. I made a decision after posting chapter six that I would write a couple chapters before I posted a new one, as I love to make changes to my work as I write. That plan seriously backfired, however, when my laptop got infected by a virus this past summer. I lost pretty much everything. All 12 gigs of music I had, my bookmarked webpages, my saved fanfic links, everything. Not all of this story, thanks to my computer guy, he recovered everything up to the fifth paragraph of chapter two from my totally mangled harddrive. I actually had to copy the rest of the story from .

Suffice to say, I'm starting again from essentially square one. I also lost all my research notes I made regarding tigers for Shalimar; so I needed time to redo it, and re-read it.

I do intend to continue this story, but I do need to ask for you to remain patient. I remember where I was, and where I wanted this story to go (a satisfactory ending to the damned series!). Maybe it will turn out that this virus was a good thing, as I can redo Chapter 7, and get myself out of a hole I dug myself into for Chapter 8, which is why I made the decision to wait in the first place.


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